The Blue Bird

I recently stumbled across these film stills from The Blue Bird, a classic 1918 silent film and it jogged hazy (even trippy) memories of the movie. Those memories prompted a re-watching and the silent film was just as wonderful and slightly hallucinagentic as remembered.

The story follows two peasant children, brother and sister, who set out on a quest to find the legendary blue bird that will bring happiness, power, and knowledge to humanity. The children make several stops on their journey, such as the Land of Memory and the Palace of Happiness. As with most journeys, the children learn and see so much along the way that the destination and achievement of their goal pale in comparison.

Visually, the aged film and color-tinting are absolutely stunning and add to the overall dreamy quality of the movie. The movie is heavy with allegory and classic romanticism with curly-haired nymphs dancing through rose-tinted fields. After viewing this so many other childhood classics pale in comparison...